Lyrica Overview

Pregabalin (brand name Lyrica) is in a class of drugs called anticonvulsants. It works by decreasing the number of pain signals that are sent out by damaged nerves in the body.

Lyrica is typically used in the treatment of:

Neuropathic pain

Epilepsy

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

Fibromyalgia

Lyrica is a derivative of the neurotransmitter GABA and a powerful gabapentiniod.

In its chemical structure, Lyrica is a close structural analogue of GABA, phenibut, gabapentin, baclofen, and GABOB. Lyrica is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant that is said to have a low potential for abuse, and as a result, was made a Schedule V drug by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Why Does Lyrica Help With Opiate Withdrawal?

Some scientists believe that Lyrica helps with opiate withdrawal due to it modulating monoamine release in “hyper-excited” neurons and because it binds to certain voltage-gated calcium channels.

In a study from 2012, a 43-year-old man that was dependent upon heroin used pregabalin for opiate withdrawal symptoms.

Apparently, this individual previously failed multiple inpatient and outpatient detoxifications using buprenorphine before deciding to use pregabalin for opiate withdrawal.

Here is a direct quote from the study (the grammar is not the best, but it’s the content that matters):

Finally he disrupted his heroine intake with a simultaneously self administration of 300 mg Pregabaline per day and was able to control the withdrawal symptoms. In this time we did control the Pregabalin level in serum and urine in our outpatient clinic. In the course the patient reported that he could treat further relapse with opiate or opioids with Pregabalin successful. This case shows first details for Pregabalin to relief withdrawal symptoms in opiate withdrawal.”

How To Use Lyrica For Opiate Withdrawal

Many individuals have benefited from using Lyrica for opiate withdrawal. But while it can help a great deal, one must always use caution before trying new medications.

To help you decide whether or not Lyrica is right for you, I’ve put together some important information that will be helpful to review.

When using Lyrica for opiate withdrawal, make sure to adhere to the following guidelines:

Only take Lyrica for a few days to a week to treat the most severe withdrawal symptoms

Long-term use of Lyrica can lead to psychological and physical dependence (once this happens, you may experience withdrawal symptoms from the abrupt cessation of the drug)

Doses of 100 mg 2-3 times a day may be sufficient to alleviate your withdrawal symptoms

For individuals with severe opioid dependence, up to 600 mg a day or more may be useful

Lyrica For Opiate Withdrawal Conclusion

Many people have used Lyrica for opiate withdrawal symptoms.

It can be very effective when used properly, however, there can also be significant side effects (such as increased risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior) and dangerous interactions, so it’s important to ask your doctor if you should use Lyrica for opiate withdrawal.

For people that can’t use Lyrica, or choose not to use medications scheduled by the DEA as having a potential for abuse, there are natural alternatives that may help.

Many individuals going through opiate withdrawal have obtained relief from anxiety and insomnia, as well as many other symptoms, by using a popular Opiate Withdrawal Supplement.

Getting yourself a 30-day supply of this powerful opiate withdrawal supplement might be just what you need to help you get your life back on track.

If you can afford it, I also highly recommend taking this awesome supplement, because the benefits are just too good to pass up.

Matt Finch

Matt helps men and women that are dependent on opiates learn how to get off these drugs without getting sick. He is a former opiate addict and a former Substance Abuse Counselor at an Opiate Treatment Program (OTP). Matt has since become an Opiate Recovery Coach, Author, and Speaker.

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The information we provide while responding to comments is not intended to provide and does not constitute medical, legal, or other professional advice. The responses to comments on OpiateAddictionSupport.com are designed to support, not replace, medical or psychiatric treatment. Please seek professional care if you believe you may have a condition.

Reader Interactions

Comments

Hi, I’m in need of some advice and hopefully quickly. I Hurt my back quite bad 5 years ago and had to have surgery. Needless to say the Dr messed up and caused a spinal fluid leak, glued the hole up and never even finished the procedure. He covered his mistake by giving me oxycodone and I left him and went to another Dr who told me the truth about the surgery and I went back under the knife to wake up and find out my whole right side of my spine was GLUED together and that’s why the pain was so bad. After that 2nd procedure I wasn’t in pain but was getting sick, went to the er and was told it was withdraw and that same day I flushed everything and went cold Turkey of a 20mg every 4hr for over 2 year’s. The problem I have now is I have legitimate pain and will for the rest of my life and I try to take the lowest thing I can I was on T3s for years but it just wasn’t cutting it and unfortunately had to go back on 6 10\325 norcos a day. Most the time I make it but sometimes I just can’t so I have to go through wd, I have Lyrica a ton!!!!! What dose should I be taking to relieve my WD when I already take 100mg a day? I also have imodim AD, xanix, kpins, baclofin. PLEASE HELP!!!!! I have children and need to b able to function. Thank you in advanced

I dont see a comnent box…i had a question. I am taking lyrica and find it helping a little. But i am slipping back to opiods. I was involved in a very serious car accident and on opiods for 5 plus years. I want to try suboxone to reduce my cravings for opiods but also want to stay on the lyrica. Can a doctor prescribe me both? Or will i have to take one or the other. I will have pain for the rest of my life. Oh i also have been on klonopin for severe depression shich i am on dissability. So will i still ve able to be prescribed suboxone Klonopin and lyrica? Thank you

Do NOT GET ON SUBOXONE OR METHADONE..I was attached to a clinic with heroin addicts for 5 1/2 years. Couldn’t even travel because u have to get ahead warning in 2 weeks advance to get take homes. I was on every pain meds you can think of for 15 years…I could be in total darkness & shake a prescription bottle in the dark and knew which one it was by sound. From Duiladid, Vicodin, percocets etc etc. One day I decided a year ago to start titrating down from the methadone at 2 million mg every two weeks and then at 8 months 4 mg every 2 weeks and I got down to 19 mg in a year. Then I went to Mexico and knew I’d run out of my take homes before coming home, but decided enough was enough. I happened to go to the doctor there to get some pain medicine because it’s easier to get in Mexico but she gave me Lyrica and I never once mentioned that I was on methadone having to take the Alorica to try it I started noticing that I never had the withdrawal symptoms yet it was two days and it hadn’t kicked in when usually it kicks in by the very next morning before I get my dose so I decided to keep on going a week went by still no withdrawal symptoms I was only taking one Lyrica a day 75 mg I am now and almost a month and I’m not spending $15 a day I have spent $30,000 actually over that in the last past 5 years on a clinic that could have very much went to a car payment or bills I feel free for the first time in almost six years I also take Tramadol to help with other pain but once you’re on methadone it’s the hardest thing to come off of it’s easier to come off the opiates but I didn’t know that no one informed me I had never heard of methadone before I Googled it and went to the clinic to stop my withdrawals and they told me it was the best thing for me which was a lie because it’s all about money for them!! Once you start at the clinic you have to go to meetings and classes and it didn’t interrupt your work if you have a job you’re unable to stop you have to see your counselor all of the time sometimes you can’t even get your doses because they flag you and you got to go see your counselor first then you going to get permission for a whole bunch of stuff they drug test you on top test constantly.. but I wanted to maybe help other people out because I was on 105 mg and came down all the way to 19 with no problem as long as you do it slow and do it right you’ll be fine!!

Hi , I am a mother of 3 and a registered nurse for more 5 years now. I go to work , come home and take care of my kids. I have been addicted to roxy’s for about a year and a half. Since I had an emergency c-section with my youngest. I have lyrica and a lot of it. Please , I want to stop . How can I use lyrica to stop. Mother in need .

Hi Kawai. I’m glad to hear you have so much Lyrica to help with your symptoms. I’m going to copy and paste the part of my article where it shows you exactly how to use Lyrica for opiate withdrawal:

When using Lyrica for opiate withdrawal, make sure to adhere to the following guidelines:

Always use Lyrica under the supervision of a doctor Make sure to review the possible Lyrica side effects and interactions Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have any medical conditions prior to taking Lyrica, especially the ones from this list Only take Lyrica for a few days to a week to treat the most severe withdrawal symptoms Long-term use of Lyrica can lead to psychological and physical dependence (once this happens, you may experience withdrawal symptoms from the abrupt cessation of the drug) Doses of 100 mg 2-3 times a day may be sufficient to alleviate your withdrawal symptoms For individuals with severe opioid dependence, up to 600 mg a day or more may be useful

This is a great article. I wrote a post about it thinking my wife and I were the only ones who knew about the benefits of Pregabalin/Lyrica. I can’t stress enough that there is a withdraw from Lyrica if you use it too long. It’s a mean withdraw that is worse than the actual detox from the pills/drug of choice. If you only use it for a week or so, you’ll be fine. If you use it for two weeks straight and then hop off, you might feel the withdraw. If you use it for a month and over, you’re going to feel it if you don’t taper down.

The stuff is very expensive, but it is a miracle drug in my humble opinion. Just be careful with it, and only use it during your detox, and perhaps once a month for fun. You/We deserve that little break from reality 😛

I’m currently being prescribed 2×300 mg of pregabalin daily for an anxiety disorder and I am on 5ml methodone daily. Will the pregabalin take withdrawal symptoms away if I stop the methodone. Please help.

Hello Matt I used your methadone taper to withdraw from a 13 opium addiction.After we I could not sleep because of bad anxiety which would only occur at night 300 mg split in two doses 150mg snorted in morning 150mg snorted at night this is a wonder drug first night slept 10 hours more then I had slept in ten days will use it for max two weeks.

That is so awesome that you were able to get rid of the anxiety and get some sleep! It really does work well for most people, but did you know that you can just swallow the capsule to get the great benefits? No need to snort it. Works quite well orally as recommended by the doctor. And your plan to use it max two weeks is awesome. That will really help you get past the acute phase of withdrawal. Grea that you have this opiate withdrawal remedy!

I’m coming off 16mg of suboxone, cold turkey, no tapering. It took seven days for the withdrawal to start, so I must have had a lot of it in my system for it to take so long. I have to say Lyrica has been a LIFE SAVER for me, I started on 300mg, it knocked me out, which was a good thing given The horrible state I was in. The next day I continued to take it, the sedating effects were not as bad, it just left me feeling really spaced out and basically wasted. I don’t know if it got rid of the withdrawal so much as it made me so out of it that the symptoms didn’t bother me anymore. I’ve had to slowly increase my dose each day to get the same amount of relief, my tolerance to it seems to be increasing very fast. I’ve found suboxone withdrawal isn’t as intense as short acting opiate withdrawal, but it lasts much longer and the symptoms linger, so I don’t know if it would be as effective on the more intense withdrawals like Heroin. I haven’t had too many bad side effects from the Lyrica, it just makes me feel really spaced out, sort of like being on benzos, it feels somewhere between being drunk and being on benzos is the only way I can describe how it makes me feel. Hence there may be slight loss of inhibition, especially at high doses, so be aware of that before you take it would be my advise.

yes I agree ime down to 40mls of methadone daily 15ml Valium for benzo abuse enough to stop my benzo withdrawal ,unfortunately I still dabble but my drug use is so minute sometimes just once a week this is because I started using pregablin Again unfortunately the doctor’s at my methadone clinic will not advise it or even try to work with you so I have to buy it from other addicts mostly terminal old men and women if they gave people the option for pregablin it would put them out of a job. So I will be talking to my original gp about it to explore his opinion again unfortunately the dr ,s who work in drug services liaise with GPS and fill there heads with doubt for thousands of addicts trying to get well this is not helping them and the resulting consequences are addicts unsupervised using pregablin have died.

Would like to leave me thoughts with anyone interested. Had a small Heroin habit, 10 bag a day when not working and 20 bag a day when working, weekends and paydays (Fridays) I usually used a touch more. 8 yrs this went on for until May 5th 2017. The week Just before I decided to stop I was using a 10 bag a day as i wasnt working. So off i went cap in hand to an good friend asking if i could get out of the area and stay with them to help me get through the withdrawals. They agreed and that was that. They are bi-polar by the way and have spare meds like pregablin 200mg caps. I took 400mg of pregabs each day for the first 3 days and 2x10mg Tamezapam to help me sleep during the first 2 nights. I should add that my friend is a great friend, (My ex) and she cooked, made me drinks and popped over the shops as and when for me, so i was basically being babysitted.. This really helps.. Hot baths can be had for a while whilst on pregabs and they work wonders on relaxing the kneecaps with a carpet of warmth. I was suprised how day 1,2 and 3 went as easily as they did, (I smoked Heroin, not Injected). I stopped all pregabs come day 4 or 5, no more tamazies either (These were in short supply and what she had she needed really). I never once was sick! I was even walking the dog come day 3 onwards, at a push i must admit. The biggest noticable withdrawal symptom i suffererd from was being lethargic, like you get when u have a cold. Coudnt be arsed to move is a more down to earth description too i suppose. My advice to anyone on withdrawals is take pregabs, and a sleeper pos, but make sure you get food inside of you and drink plenty fluids (the feeling of dehydration and starving hungary is kinda similier to withdrawals so it best to elimanate the chance of that added stress on the body).. Eat well, drink well and some vit C supplements all help.. So in a nutshell I took pregabs for 4days and that was that… Day 5 i was ok, just tired and needing regluar sleep. Sleep pattern came back without need for any meds from around day day 9/10.. Oh bye the way, Fish, Chicken, Mash potato, Beans and Birds Custard is basically all i ate for those first few days.. Good luck and you are WORTH-IT XXX

Great post you wrote here Neil. I enjoyed reading it, and I’m positive many readers over the years will obtain massive value from reading it. You had some great tips and I agree with all of them. Thank you and take care! 🙂

I was on a high dose of methadone for 14 years and tried many times, unsuccessfully, to go any more than 2 days cold turkey. I heard from a friend that pregablin significantly, if not totally reduced withdrawal symptoms. I am not a particularly robust person when it comes to opiate withdrawals, but I absolutely BREEZED it. The pregablin pretty much eliminated all withdrawal symptoms save, perhaps, lethargy. This was perhaps because I didn’t eat much or keep myself suitably hydrated. But, in a nutshell, pregablin DOES WORK BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE and I would even describe the detox as pleasant. I took 600mg in daily divided doses for 5 days. After that I did find sleeping difficult and took 10mg diazepam at night for a fortnight. I’m absolutely AMAZED that there have not been more clinical investigations into Pregablin for opiate withdrawal symptoms. All this said the hard part is STAYING clean. Hope this helps.

HI! Quick question- I have lyrica that I wasn’t prescribed for fibro (how I became addicted to pain pills). I think I have two boxes off 100mg and some 50mg. My question is, to begin my detox, when do I start the lyrica? Can I start it before my last dose? Do I have to wait until I am sick like subs? Just want to do it right. Should I start with 100mg? Also, my integrative medicine doctor rx’d Me the CALM injections which has 50mg GABA in addition to magnesium and taurine. Can you use that in addition to the lyrica? Thanks !!!!!

You start taking Lyrica on the morning of Day 1 of opiate withdrawal. So take your last dose of opiates in the evening or night then go to sleep. Then in the morning when you first awake, instead of taking opiates, take Lyrica. Start with a small dose and see how it makes you feel. Raise dose if necessary but use the least amount that it takes to feel better. The injections you get shouldn’t interfere with the Lyrica, but I’m not 100% certain about this.

I was in a car accident and have very bad back problems. I am now on lyrica. I am still slipping back to opiods n buying them off the street and its costing me all my money $1 mg. I was wondering if i can get prescribed suboxone and lyrica at the same time? I am also on klonopin and on dissability for severe depression for the past 30 years. My pain started after i was hit by a car. Can i be prescribed suboxone n lyrica n klonopin at same time? Please help thank you

Just want to inform people out there of my experience with Lyrica. I was taking this medication at 100mg a day. I was not taking it for withdrawal ,but to help with nerve pain. The medication got to be to expensive so I stopped. To my surprise I started going into mild to severe withdrawal symptoms from the absence of Lyrica, I had been taking it for 2 months. I called my doctor wondering why this was happening . He had no answers for me , but to give me samples, which I then slowly tapered down off of Lyrica. Kelly Clas

Sorry you had this happen and your doctor didn’t tell you it might occur. That’s why I wrote in the article to only use it for the acute detox symptoms and that using it longer can result in dependence. I heard the withdrawal symptoms are awful. And yes even after a few weeks on it Lyrica can cause withdrawal symptoms from stopping abruptly, which is why people on it for even as short of a time as you should be tapered off by their doctors. Thanks for sharing your experience Kelly. It should serve as a good warning for people to only use it as recommended for the acute symptoms and no longer. Or to make sure they taper off it if they get a Lyrica dependence.

It’s so disappointing how doctors have no understanding of how receptors work. Pregabalin reduces neuronal excitability (voltage dependent calcium channels) I just cant understand how a doctor has no clue why a person is feeling withdrawls from Lyrica. If you’re on it for a while, the body will try to compensate similar to how it upregulates/downregulates receptors with many other drugs to balance things out. I read somewhere about a study a bunch of clueless doctors did on slow tapering from buprenorphine. The subjects reduced dosage from 32mgs to 2 mgs. The researchers assumed that it was completely ok to stop dosing after subjects reached the 2mg level not realizing that there is still significant receptor saturation of buprenorphine and that its highly lypophilic. You would need to reduce to 0.1 to significantly reduce withdrawls, and even then, you’ll feel discomfort of some kind, although nothing remotely similar to jumping off at 2+ mg of suboxone/subutex. Thankfully, I was put on clonidine and chlorazepate dipotassium 10 years ago, and felt absolutely no withdrawls. Clonidine is a miracle drug but BP must be monitored very closely. Any person on opiates must talk to their doctors about possibly starting on clonidine. Theres plenty of info on the web about dosing with it, safety, etc. Also, I am very interested in Iboga (total alkaloids) for opiate withdrawl and receptor rejuventation. Ibogaine is very very very promising, but not for everyone.

Instead of the “Opioid Epidemic” I call it the “Ignorance Epidemic” because most (but not all) of the doctors prescribing all of these drugs are ignorant. They don’t tell patients they will get dependent on drugs and there will be withdrawal symptoms from trying to get off. And they don’t have a clue how to taper a patient in a way that makes them comfortable.

Not all doctors are ignorant, but most are in this regard. Clonidine is one of the best medications for opiate withdrawal and ibogaine has been a “cure” for many of my coaching clients that went that route.

Thanks for posting this great info and tips Sam. You rock my friend. Take care.

Hi Matt I have some vitamin C tablets 1000 mg each pill i am coming off heroin are these good to use I know you recommend sodium ascorbate but I dont have the cash for it, so will these do ? and how many a day should I use, have managed to get habit down to one £10 bag a day, just did two days detox but messed up and scored a bag of heroin today. Look forward to hearing from you

Yes vitamin C tablets work well too, they just lead to little more stomach cramping than the other forms of vitamin C. I’m going to post a link to the mega-dose vitamin C article for you to check out. Read the comments after it as you’ll see dosing schedules that have worked for people in your very similar situation.

Hi Matt, I have been using street heroin around 5 bags a day for a year. I have 10 strips of 10 Gabapentin 300mg and about 6 strips of 10 pregabalin 150mg. I want to come off the street heroin, should I use the gabapentin or the pregabalin ? and in what doses.

Second question I also have 100 30mg Dihydrocodeine should I use these ? thinking they will only swap one opiate for another?

If I mixed the Dihydrocodeine with pregabalin or gabapentin would this cause problems like inducing opiate withdrawl

It depends on what your situation is like right now. If you have responsibilities you can’t take time off from, like work and taking care of children, then I would recommend going on a taper schedule first, and then using gabapentin or Lyrica for the acute detox. But if you’re able lay around the house for at least 4 days right now, then I would just skip the taper plan and do a cold-turkey detox right away. Here are the dosages you would likely need to knock out the severe withdrawal symptoms:

Gabapentin – 600-1200 mg 3x a day for 4-7 days

Lyrica – 300-600 mg 3x a day for 4-7 days

Please note that you don’t want to use both of these at the same time. Simply choose one. They both work extremely well for most people. If it were me, I would start with the gabapentin and if that doesn’t give you the relief you want, try the Lyrica. They both increase GABA in the body which calms down the fight or flight response that is going haywire during opiate withdrawal.

I can tell you pregabalin is the way to go. I use pregabalin 2000mg everyday. I stopped fentanyl and Suboxone addiction. I took 16mg Buprenorphine (Suboxone) one day on top of my daily dose of 200mg pregabalin only and this causes precipated opioid withdrawal. This means that even though they say Pregabalin has no opoioid receptor activity is a lie. The only way I could have went into precipated withdrawal from Suboxone is IF PREGABALIN effects modulates OPIOID receptors.

Gabapentin and/or Lyrica can be a Godsend during both acute withdrawal and PAWS. However, there is a way to combat dependency issues with these GABA inducing meds. Cycle them with some of the other methods and substances Matt has shown to help. This means that you may take the Lyrica for five days then switch to kratom for five days or vice versa. This will ensure that your body does not get dependent. The medicine that I am against is high dose loperamide due to it’s cardiovascular toxicity.

Hi Everyone. My partner and I separated and unfortunately fell back in to a terrible rut and an old habit of heroin.We had both been clean for over 10 years but with us splitting up, family problems etc, We relapsed. We are back together now but have been taking up to 0.5gram of heroin per day for the past few years. We desperately want to stop taking heroin, but due to fears of withdrawals…splitting up, hating each other,blaming each other and to be honest just the actual fear of going for help has held us back massively! The worst thing of all is that I know that we are so bad for each other as we are each others biggest enablers. On a positive note I do know that we can also be each others greatest support system. I feel as though its guilt, fear and the worry of splitting up again has kept us on the drugs. We both have overcome so much from our pasts with family problems and difficult childhoods. I guess you could say we are the cliche for drug use. We were both working having a perfect life then things fell apart, I became ill, lost my job, things went downhill from there. We have worked so hard at keeping this hidden from our families, but now our savings have ran out… we have used up pretty much all our options for money and after wasting £20,000 on drugs in the past few years. Self loathing and guilt is now starting to take over and its hard to keep going. We have been looking through these forums and are going to start on pre-gablin as of now. I am willing to try anything to get through this and keep my family together. We are going to take 75mg x2 up to 3 times daily. We are going to keep a record on here to show people that we are actually doing this as I feel like this page will help. Its come to the point of make it or break it time as I know we cannot keep on going the way we are. Im terrified to be completely honest of losing everything that I have worked so hard for. My family, my health… Its time to face up to what has been going on. To put things right and to beat this altogether whilst the choice is mine to make. Good luck to others going through this. You can do it. I know I am going to. Life is for living! I for one am not going to waste another day, I refuse to be an enabler to my partner. We are going to give this everything we have got because we need to be there for each other and love is stronger and more powerful than anything! Especially drugs.

Hello US2. I just read your post from September. I am wondering how things have been going for you since the post? I hope and pray that you and your partner have been able to achieve your goal of getting clean and staying clean!!! Also, how did the Lyrica work for you??? That’s the route I am planning on going. Looking forward to hearing back from you!!

Matt, I have read some of your information and am encouraged that you have devoted time and effort toward helping others. I know i wish to withdraw and have done so in the past – hydrocodone – until pain becomes so unbearable i must return. I don’t want to return, yet i am not looking forward to another “cold turkey”approach. I have been working, taking two methadone tabs in trying to ween down. I am not confident in this method. Understanding that I take about 60 mg of norco per day, and recently began supplementing this with 20 mgs of methadone, thereby reducing hydro intake by approximately same, i would like your recommendation for what is probably best for me, based on your expertise. Looking forward to hearing from you ASAP. I am determined to withdraw and would like to do so in most comfortable manner possible, possibly even working while so doing. Thank you,

Had to leave a comment. Because lyrica is helping me from getting withdrawals. I’ve been on 125 mcg of fentanyl for 12 years do to spine issues from a work injury. Worker comp has suddenly decided they wanted to detox me down. For the last 2 month I’ve been a emotional mess. Everyone was now treating me like a drug addict. Something clicked in me..NO I’m not a addict so I had lyrica here that they had given me last year that I stopped cause it did make my head really heavy. But anyone ripped my patches off last week..been a week without stated lyrica a few days later to curve the withdrawal and damn it’s working I’ve been taking 100mg x2 a day and so far other then the heavy head no withdrawal symptoms. My plan is to back down to only 100 in a few days the go off and if this works I will NEVER be put on pain meds again. I’m never going to be treated like that again. Sad thing is this was all their doing from the start.

Hello “Me.” I I’m going through a very similar situation, I hate to say. I see that your post is from back in August. I’m just wondering how everything has worked out for you. How did the Larricha work out for you? Looking forward to hearing back from you. Thanks for posting! It has given me some motivation inspiration to do what I need to do. So again, thank you!

Thanks to all. Day two, heroin withdrawal. Gabapenrin 900 (3 caps) 2x today. small amounts of klonipin, baclofen. loperamide 9 sm. tablets. Im 56. Addict off, on for 30 years. I will get clean. Develop a difficult, hard to master interest. Master it in record time. Glean no actual depth of self, or sense of self worth or esteem. Return to opiates to erase existential angst, repeat ad nauseum, ad infinitum. Again, with age comes uncertainty, I have used up both grace and luck, and my last guardian angel is now in rehab. Best of luck to all.

I came across this article and sort of wanted to ‘bump’ it (keep a fresh date on it) as it’s excellent to see this topic being discussed in a new context other than a forum. A guy who is totally experienced in opiate withdrawal, who relates to his audience but is sensible on advising is important, and a huge reassurance to someone trying to figure this issue out.

I’m the UK, Pregabalin isn’t licensed for opiate withdrawal and would unfortunately need to be obtained illegally or prescribed to the user on other grounds.

I wanted to share my experience too 🙂

I have been an opiate user for the last 5 years. Prescription drugs mainly ranging from Codiene – Morphene, basically anything going, (performing the old ‘cold water extractions’ with a coffee filter at times of desperation). I was prescribed Beuprenorphene a few years ago and eventually went cold turkey at the beginning of last year. Very, very difficult, and whilst I admire the people who advocate that we should pretty much ‘man up’ and get on with it, in reality that cannot be achieved by the average user. If it could, we wouldn’t haven’t the extensive issue of opiate/oid addiction.

Anyhow, I replapsed within a couple of weeks, much to my despair. The very real experience of overwhelming guilt, self-disappointment and physical dependence all consumed me all over again very quickly. I hear some people talk about how the things important to you should be your motivation to achieve sobriety. Whilst to some extent that is probably true, the reality is that there are so many variables to our personal situation, that it is almost impossible to be completely self driven to become clean, when physically you cannot even function, never mind mentally (at least not healthily).

I did lots of reasearch online, I felt too scared to ask for help again as I anticipated the inevitable judgement and lack of empathy on being a ‘user’. Pregabalin kept coming up and I felt so eager to have a go at using it to help me withdraw from opiates again that I literally couldn’t sleep!

I used 300mg daily for four days, and apart from a slight body ache and feeling tired, I felt like a miracle had occurred! It was fabulous. Side effects were that I felt slightly pissed (helpful in the situation I was in) and very tired (also helpful). I feel I could have used a lower dose due to the specific opiates I have used however this is all I had so I made the most of it. After four days I felt brand new. I did take the option of visiting my GP and informing them of what I had done which led to me achieving a prescribed dose of Pregabalin 25mg twice a day (prescribed for Restless Leg Syndrome) however I opted not to out stay my welcome and take it on face value that I had achieved the biggest goal which was to be as comfortable as possible whilst withdrawing from opiates.

Six months later I haven’t looked back. Whilst I appreciate Pregabalin does not warrant merit for my six months sobriety, it did certainly help me ‘pull my shit together’ simply by taking away my pain at a crucial time. Psychologically I was ready to move on from my addiction, but I needed a way of getting through that vital point in time when it’s so painful you feel like you’ve just been dug up!!

I should mention that after taking Pregabalin to see me through the worst of withdrawals, the slight aches and a general feeling of malaise did follow. However they were very manageable and much easier to challenge without all the usual withdrawal symptoms.

Please guys, ask away if I can help! Matt, you are a grand man 🙂 if it weren’t for people like you, the world would be far less easy to appreciate!

Great story….hope things are going well. I’ve been clinging to Matt’s various suggestions for a while now, to get off Tramadol after 11 years of it, and have a scrip for pregabalin, and also take DLPA too. (Feel a bit too spaced out to be honest…maybe I can lower the pregabalin.) But by god it works for withdrawal. Tried so often, and this time it feels like it may work. So grateful to Matt…..nothing has ever encouraged me to persist with this before xc

Hi Matt, I’m on 60mg of methadone, as is my partner. We both occasionally buy pregabalin 300mg and sometimes when one of us has missed the chemist we take 1 or 2 and our withdrawals don’t even come on!! I’m in Manchester in England and it is so hard to get anything off our doctors!! Would it be worth it to buy a weeks supply each and just keep ourselves in the house. I just don’t want to start it, miss 3 days at my chemist (if you miss 3 days they send your script back) and then start to withdraw. I’d be totally fu*#ed!!!! Any advice would be great please Matt, and/or anyone else with useful info or advice x

Matt, my question is “how much Pregabalin would my partner and myself need and for how long considering we’re both on 60mg of methadone a day and have maybe £30 worth of heroin a week.”? We both, as I already mentioned, use pregabalin on occasion and I know that a 300mg capsule each stops our withdrawals for 24 hours, when we’ve missed the chemist for our methadone. I’ve gone 2 days just using 1/2 300mg pregabalin without my methadone on a few occasions but I’m just worried that after that I’ll start to feel really ill. We’re both on supervised consumption and if we miss 3 days script they take us off it. I just wanted to be as sure as possible that we’d be ok with just the pregabalin. We’re not prescribed pregabalin, we have to buy it as the Doctors round here don’t like giving anything out! Ramona x

Matt, my question is “how much Pregabalin would my partner and myself need and for how long considering we’re both on 60mg of methadone a day and have maybe £30 worth of heroin a week.”? We both, as I already mentioned, use pregabalin on occasion and I know that a 300mg capsule each stops our withdrawals for 24 hours, when we’ve missed the chemist for our methadone. I’ve gone 2 days just using 1/2 300mg pregabalin without my methadone on a few occasions but I’m just worried that after that I’ll start to feel really ill. We’re both on supervised consumption and if we miss 3 days script they take us off it. I just wanted to be as sure as possible that we’d be ok with just the pregabalin. We’re not prescribed pregabalin, we have to buy it as the Doctors round here don’t like giving anything out! Ramona x

Typically people have told me they get amazing results taking 300 to 600 mg of pregabalin. The problem is that methadone withdrawal can last weeks to months if you don’t taper off it, and if one were to take pregabalin for months the you can suffer from withdrawal symptoms coming off that. If it were me in that situation, I would take 300 to 600 mg of pregabalin during the week of most severe symptoms, then just to go to sleep at night for another week, then discontinue it to avoid becoming dependent on it. But I obviously don’t recommend taking meds without prescriptions or doctors supervision. Did I answer your question well-enough? Is there anything else I can help with?

I am tapering off methadone. Started at 30mgs 6 months ago. I’m at 14mgs presently. I was displine for a dirty urinalysis at my clinic. They took me down to 14mgs from 19 msg. Due to a Xanax.i have script for gabapentin,400 mgs. I used it and it works. I went up 5mgs after this. Now back to 14mgs. I started drinking a few weeks ago and feel worse than I did during the forced taper. I’m taking 400mgs twice a day, but not the same results. And I stopped drinking. Does alcohol have anything to do with this? I don’t want to screw this up. I’m going down 2mgs every 2 weeks. I’m also on cymbalta,30mgs. Please any information on why I’m struggling with this now.

THen your body will be dependent on pregablin. this drug is a nerve pain drug so imagine stoppping taking it your nerves will feel just as bad as opiate withdrawl. It is not good to give advice to trade one addictive drug for another less addictive but still has potenial gfor abuse and is a great drug well known to potenate others drugs suchs as opiates benzos. gabapentin which is very similir to pregablin but not as strong is like hydrocodone is to oxy codone. any how short term use to get thru the worst of the physical symtoms would be advisable but using it after that will only make your body dependent on a new drug rather you have an mental addictive use which willl prolly not happen with pregablin because its not the same as the high there use to chasing.

As stated in the article, Matt advice is to only use Lyrica for short term to get through acute opiate withdrawal. Longer use can lead to physical and psychological dependency, however when used as stated in the article, and as many Drs are now doing, it can be a very effective medicine for opiate withdrawal.

I am currently withdrawing off of Buprenorphine. I am on day 8 and it is brutal. I’ve gotten barely any sleep the past week and I have lost a ton of muscle mass. What is funny is that when I was put on Suboxone (Originally then moved to bupe later) it was to combat a pain pill habit that I had since 14 years old. At age 30 I started Suboxone and I thought it WAS A MIRACLE because I no longer spent all of my money on pills. I was so wrong. I had withdrawals off of pain pills (Norco) multiple times and typically they would last 3-7 days and lighten up. Pain pill withdrawals are more mental IMO, meaning you think about a pill and will tear your house apart to find one. After you don’t find one in your house it is time to call up every old pill dealer you have ever known in your life. The withdrawals are not crap compared to pure Buprenorphine. I am coming off of 16 MG per day of bupe and am quitting cold turkey. Bonus to Bupre withdrawals: These withdrawals are so physically intense that I was able to quit smoking cigarettes at the same time with ZERO effects from not smoking. 20 year smoker quit without any symptoms while coming off of bupe. I am not through the withdrawals yet but I am freaking pissed that I was so weak that I let the fear of withdrawal pain keep me doped up for so long. Now I’m taking on the drawals like a fist fight. I look at them like they are a physical enemy I have to destroy and I am training in my head for that constantly.

Sorry for ranting. I guess the bottom line is that if you are in PAWS from pain meds, just tough it out and fight it mentally like you are preparing to physically take on a bully in two weeks. If you are coming off of Bupe/Suboxone you should go ahead and quit smoking when you quit subs. Trust me, you wont notice. Just get some nicotine gum and you’ll be good. My 20 years on pills came to an end 8 days ago today. I hope you can say the same thing 8 days after reading this. You are strong enough.

Hey buddy! I’m 5 days in. Just kinda decided I didn’t wanna be on bupe anymore. It has been unpleasant to say the least, but I’m like you! Im still going to work everyday, cause I know if I can make it through a day of work feeling like this than I can make it through any day of work! LOL

Also do your research on lyrica. I’ve been on it for months now for AS, I figured out that it works amazingly to taper off narcotics as well, BUT, lyrica is compared to heroin withdrawal when trying to come off it. I never have done heroin but skipping a dose of lyrica is 100x worse than narcotics. And it only took few days of being on it for my body to become dependent. I’m on the lowest dose prescribed. When I talk to my pharmacist about the effects I had, he said some ppl take yrs just to taper off. And I believe it, being on the lowest dose for only few months, I literally had to open my capsules and cutting out even a qtr of one pill I had symptoms. I’m suppose to take 2 a day and after what I’ve learned and experienced I went to one a day about month ago and I still feel the effects. Mainly now the rolling sweats and anxiety. But just be careful with lyrica and make sure you have a stock pile to use when tapering off of it. Cause like I said it only took a few days and my body had to be weaned.

I have talked with several people that used it for a few days for the acute opioid withdrawal then they stopped using Lyrica with no adverse effects. You say you became dependent after a few days, but that is not always the case. Furthermore, I’ve read many comments from people in forums that said they used Lyrica at 600 mg for up to a year with no withdrawal symptoms from stopping abruptly. Everyone’s body is different so results will always vary. But yes, once someone develops a dependence this medication, it can be very hard to come off! Scary stuff indeed. That’s why in this article I put to use it under the supervision of a doctor for a few days to a week at most to alleviate acute opioid withdrawal symptoms.

Thanks so much for posting this comment about your experience using Lyrica Misty. I also received an email from someone that said they’ve been on it for years for neuropathic pain, and now they can’t even taper off Lyrica because it’s too difficult. Medications are dual-edged swords at times.

I remember trying to come off Valium and Paxil that were prescribed to me 13 years ago, and I had really bad withdrawal symptoms. And my Doctor never told me anything about that possibility when he prescribed me those meds!

Hi I’m trying very hard to come-off 90mg methadone been told to just stop in a week by friends because on lyrica 600mg for GAD 30mg Valium 45mg Zispin 200mg Topmax for Epilepsy but wouldn’t this be dangerous as I’m on alot of medication? Also would my Lyrica stop me leveled out because of my Generalized Anxiety?

I took Lyrica for three weeks during my Post Acute Withdrawal Phase. It helped tremendously with that feeling of every cell in your body being on fire. Sadly, it also caused profound weight gain–twelve pounds in those three weeks with no signs of stopping. Since botched foot surgery drove me to opiates in the first place, I just can’t afford that kind of pathological weight gain, not to mention the host of other problems associated with obesity. Is there an alternative to Lyrica that doesn’t cause weight gain? I have the same problems with antidepressants. They make me superfat, even on a 900 calorie diet of protein and vegetables, no carbs.

It works very well for that, but Suboxone has buprenorphine in it. Bupe is still an opioid, so you’re not technically off opioids while using this for withdrawal. Many people use it short-term to get off opioids, but many more people get stuck on it for years and then it can be very hard to come off Suboxone. Here is an article I wrote on it:

A word of advice from someone that used Soboxone for opiate withdrawal is to only use it short term, be sure to be on the same page with your doctor on how long to remain on the Soboxone, and ensure that your doctor sticks to the plan and weans you off of the Soboxone. I have been on Soboxone twice for opiate withdrawal and both times my doctor kept me on the med long term meaning at least 3 years. The withdrawal from long term Suboxone use is actually more difficult than opiate withdrawal from my experience. Just be sure to do a lot of research before taking this routs, but if your life is a mess and your health is in trouble from severe opiate dependence then I would agree that Soboxone can definitely be of assistance to you. Be sure to obtain as much information from the prescribing doctor as possible and ensure that both you and your doctor are on the same page regarding how much, how long, and a “way out” from using Soboxone. As someone that has used Soboxone before I actually would rather withdraw from the opiate itself than from Soboxone myself due to the severity of withdrawal as well as substituting one opiate for another. If you would like to discuss anything further please feel free to email me. Best of luck no matter which way you choose to get well!

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